- Economic Recovery Is Not Enough Without Transparency and Delivery — BudgIT Ghana
BudgIT Ghana has welcomed the improvement in Ghana’s macroeconomic indicators but warned that the country’s recovery will ultimately be judged by the transparency of government spending and whether stronger fiscal numbers translate into better living conditions for citizens.
The public-finance accountability organisation said the 2026 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review showed encouraging progress across economic growth, inflation, public debt, fiscal performance and international reserves, but argued that attention must now shift from policy announcements to implementation.
In particular, B. The organisation wants the government to publish detailed information showing precisely which projects have received funding, where they are located, how much each project costs, the companies awarded contracts and the level of implementation reached.
For BudgIT, the question is no longer simply how much government says it has spent.
It is whether citizens can independently verify where the money has gone.
“The progress recorded in Ghana’s macroeconomic recovery journey is encouraging and deserves recognition,” Jennifer A. Moffatt, Country Manager of BudgIT Ghana, said in a statement assessing the Mid-Year Review.
She pointed to what BudgIT described as important improvements in Ghana’s economic indicators, including a reduction in the debt-to-GDP ratio to about 45.00%, inflation of 5.30%, first-quarter real GDP growth of 6.40%, and gross international reserves of approximately US$12.90 billion, equivalent to five months of import cover.
BudgIT said these developments represent important milestones in rebuilding economic confidence, but stressed that stronger macroeconomic indicators should not become an end in themselves.
The organisation argues that the real measure of recovery is whether households experience improvements in the affordability of goods and services, infrastructure provision and the quality of public services.
That distinction is particularly important after several years in which Ghana went through a severe fiscal and debt crisis that forced significant adjustments across government finances.
For citizens who endured high inflation, currency depreciation and declining purchasing power, headline economic stabilisation may mean relatively little unless it is eventually reflected in household welfare.
BudgIT therefore wants implementation and accountability to become the centre of the next phase of the recovery.
One area it considers critical is public procurement.
The organisation welcomed implementation of the Public Procurement Authority Amendment Act but said its effectiveness would depend on whether government institutions are compelled to use approved digital procurement and financial-management platforms.
BudgIT is calling for mandatory use of the Ghana Electronic Procurement System, or GHANEPS, and the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System, GIFMIS, across all Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
It warned that procurement undertaken outside those systems weakens transparency and makes it more difficult for citizens and oversight institutions to track how public money is spent.
“Procurement processes conducted outside these approved digital platforms weaken transparency, reduce public oversight, and create opportunities for inefficiency and financial irregularities,” BudgIT said.
The organisation wants institutions that deliberately bypass the systems to face sanctions under Ghana’s public financial-management framework.
Its argument is that digital systems alone cannot improve governance unless officials are required to use them and violations carry consequences.
That principle becomes particularly important as government scales up infrastructure expenditure.
BudgIT’s strongest concern relates to the Big Push Programme. Government has indicated that about GH¢6.50 billion has already been spent on the programme, which is intended to accelerate infrastructure development across the country.
BudgIT said the figure demonstrates that implementation is progressing, but argued that announcing an aggregate expenditure number does not provide enough information for meaningful public oversight.
Citizens, it said, should be able to identify the individual projects financed from that GH¢6.50 billion.
The organisation is therefore calling for quarterly implementation reports containing downloadable project-level information.
That disclosure should include the names and locations of projects, approved budgets, procurement contract values and implementation status.
BudgIT also wants government and Parliament to publish a comprehensive implementation framework outlining delivery timelines, financing arrangements, monitoring structures and expected project outputs.
The information, it argues, should be available through GHANEPS and the Ministry of Finance’s fiscal-transparency portal.
That would allow civil society organisations, journalists, citizens and public oversight institutions to independently compare what was budgeted with what was actually delivered.
BudgIT also wants infrastructure disclosure to comply with Open Contracting Data Standards, which are designed to improve transparency throughout the procurement cycle.
The organisation’s concern reflects a longstanding challenge in Ghana’s public investment system.
Large infrastructure programmes can involve significant expenditure, but citizens often struggle to determine which projects have been completed, which have stalled and whether contract costs have changed over time.
The result can be an accountability gap between money reported as spent and infrastructure physically delivered.
BudgIT argues that greater project-level transparency would help close that gap while reducing the risk of abandoned projects.
The organisation is also pressing the Ministry of Finance to improve the timeliness of public fiscal data.
It said the fiscal-data section of the ministry’s website currently provides 2026 information only up to the January-to-March period, even though the Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review contains performance figures through June.
BudgIT wants those updated datasets made available to the public.
The issue may appear technical, but it goes directly to independent economic scrutiny.
When government releases fiscal numbers in speeches or policy statements without simultaneously publishing underlying datasets, economists, journalists, researchers and civil-society organisations have fewer opportunities to interrogate the numbers independently.
BudgIT argues that current and downloadable fiscal data are therefore essential to evidence-based public debate.
The organisation has also raised questions over the government’s 24-Hour Market Programme, saying the concept requires considerably more operational detail.
While government has reaffirmed its commitment to the broader 24-Hour Economy agenda, BudgIT said citizens still require clarity over the implementation timetable, financing model, operating structure and geographical rollout of the market component.
It warned against treating the policy as though all communities in Ghana face the same economic and security conditions.
BudgIT cited Nkwanta in the Oti Region, where security challenges and curfew restrictions have affected economic activity, as an example of why implementation may have to vary from one locality to another.
A 24-hour market model that may be commercially viable in a large urban centre with reliable electricity, transport links and strong nighttime demand may not necessarily work in a smaller community with weaker infrastructure or security constraints.
BudgIT therefore wants government to carry out local assessments before rolling out the programme.
Such assessments, it said, should consider security, electricity reliability, transportation, market demand and overall economic viability.
The organisation’s broader message is that Ghana has entered a stage where the quality of implementation may matter as much as the direction of economic policy.
Macroeconomic stabilisation can rebuild confidence among investors and development partners.
But public confidence requires something more tangible.
Citizens need to be able to see projects, track expenditure and understand how economic gains are being converted into better public services.
That is why BudgIT sees transparency not merely as a governance principle but as part of economic recovery itself.
If government can demonstrate where money is going and what it is producing, the credibility of fiscal policy is strengthened.
If large expenditure programmes remain difficult to track, improving headline indicators may coexist with continued public scepticism.
“Economic recovery should not only be measured by stronger fiscal indicators, but also by whether citizens can see, verify and benefit from how public resources are managed,” BudgIT said.
That argument places a different test before government in the second half of 2026.
The first stage of the economic recovery has largely been about stabilisation — controlling inflation, restoring growth, improving public finances and rebuilding reserves.
The next stage will increasingly be about delivery.
Can government maintain fiscal discipline while investing in infrastructure?
Can major programmes such as the Big Push be implemented without weakening procurement controls?
Can digital systems such as GHANEPS and GIFMIS become mandatory tools rather than optional platforms?
Can citizens obtain timely fiscal data without waiting for periodic government statements?
And can policies such as the 24-Hour Economy be adapted to Ghana’s varied local conditions rather than implemented through a uniform national model?
Those questions will increasingly determine whether the recovery produces lasting public confidence.
For BudgIT Ghana, the macroeconomic numbers provide grounds for cautious optimism.
But the organisation’s message to policymakers is equally clear: the stronger the recovery becomes, the greater the obligation to show citizens exactly how the gains are being used.
The challenge for government is therefore shifting from restoring stability to proving that stability can deliver, transparently, efficiently and in ways ordinary Ghanaians can see.
